Official Ford C-MAX Energi PHEV thread

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

evnow

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
11,480
Location
Seattle, WA
Ford will reveal its C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and C-MAX Hybrid in Detroit auto show.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/01/10/20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ax-hybrid/

Ford will launch C-MAX Energi, its first-ever production plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and C-MAX Hybrid, a full hybrid variant, in North America in 2012 and Europe in 2013
....
Targeted to achieve AT-PZEV (Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) status, C-MAX Energi provides maximum fuel efficiency by pairing a high-voltage lithium-ion battery and electric traction motor with a high-efficiency Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine. This allows it to run in electric mode before using the gasoline engine.

C-MAX Energi will offer more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) of overall driving range using the battery and engine – more than any other plug-in or extended-range electric vehicle. C-MAX Energi delivers better charge-sustaining fuel economy than Chevrolet Volt.
......
C-MAX Hybrid is targeted to deliver better fuel economy than the 41 mpg Ford Fusion Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient sedan in America today. It builds on the success of the critically acclaimed powersplit architecture Ford uses in its current hybrids, allowing it to operate in fuel-saving electric mode beyond 47 mph.


ford-c-max-energi-front-three-quarters-view.jpg


http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/10/ford" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... brid-cars/

Oh, and that grille we hated on the Focus Electric? Looks like we're going to have to get over it.
 
WANT! Get's checkbook ready.

Chevy...this is how you should have made the Volt. :) I want a volt but I need to be able to carry 5 + people.
 
cdub said:
WANT! Get's checkbook ready.

Chevy...this is how you should have made the Volt. :) I want a volt but I need to be able to carry 5 + people.
Yes - Ford has pulled off quite a "miracle" by using fresh models to make EV,Plugin & Hybrid. They can vary the mix depending on the sales.

It will be interesting to see whether Volt's EREV will win out or the less pure but more practicle Energi's serial/parallel. Looks like I'll get Leaf this year and my wife gets Energi next year (after she gets over the "recall" problem).
 
That's exactly my plan too. :) We were planning on eventually getting a used minivan to replace our civic if need be - but this c-max energi would be a good alternative. I'll pay more for electric - won't pay more for a new ICE anymore.
 
What's important to note is that while the gasoline C-Max with sliding doors is actually based on the three-row Grand C-Max that Ford sells in other markets, the Hybrid and Energi use conventional front-hinged rear doors and seat five, just like the shorter-wheelbase C-Max available in Europe.

Doh - doesn't have the useful minivan style doors - but this size car is exactly what I wanted in a Volt style car - or even an SUV escape style... haven't seen an announcement on that yet though.
 
cdub said:
That's exactly my plan too.
Me three! AMP version of Volt is the only other contender on the horizon. Would prefer serial, but will settle for a good Parallel plug-in. Commute is only 8 miles round trip, but need freeway speed and microvan space.
 
Seen undergoing testing ... as we're 'eventually' looking to replace a much larger vehicle with something as flexible and fuel efficient around town, this was a possibility but with the big loss of storage due to the battery in the plug-in (Energi) versus the Hybrid not so sure ... looks like a few more Focus EV's will be actually delivered to customers soon so would also be interesting to see how many reached actual retail customers in March once the sales numbers get posted. Of further interest (in the article) is the Mondeo wagon, the U.S. simply doesn't warm up to wagons much so very doubtful we'll see it which is a shame ...


http://www.autoweek.com/article/201..._spotted_in_Detroit&utm_campaign=awdailydrive


Ford_CMax_US.jpg


Natural_Gas_Mondeo.jpg
 
Interesting... Most hybrid owners don't buy another...

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-repeat-hybrid-car-buyers-20120409,0,416214.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
TomT said:
Interesting... Most hybrid owners don't buy another...

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-repeat-hybrid-car-buyers-20120409,0,416214.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This story doesn't line up with my experience. Not just myself personally, but other hybrid owners I know. I do not know anyone who ever bought a hybrid and then later went to a non-hybrid. Actually, I did. Back in 2003. But that is because we had a baby and I needed to get out of the car payments so I sold my 2003 Prius and bought a really cheap used car. But I certainly didn't want to do that, I had no choice. Of course, a few years later I bought another hybrid, and of course now I have a Leaf.
 
TomT said:
Interesting... Most hybrid owners don't buy another...
Or, if you look at it this way:

Somewhere between 2-4% of the market are hybrids. So if you look at 100 people buying cars, 2-4 might buy a hybrid.

Now, if you look at people who already own a hybrid, 35% of them are going to buy another - they are 10 times more likely to buy another.

Now I (and others here) may be biased, but I almost certainly won't consider a car without some degree of electrification in the future.
 
TomT said:
Interesting... Most hybrid owners don't buy another...

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-repeat-hybrid-car-buyers-20120409,0,416214.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reading that it doesn't clarify if the hybrid owners are buying a car to replace their hybrid, or to supplement their hybrid - a relevant question. Every person I know who owns a hybrid has a non-hybrid as their second car. For various reasons; other car is fast/fun to drive, other car is an SUV, other car has AWD... However, of the people I know who own hybrids, when they have replaced their hybrid, they have purchased another hybrid. So this is why I wonder about my question.

But on the topic of the C-MAX, now that my wife and I own our LEAF and love driving it I really want to replace our Subaru with a Plug-In hybrid that has AWD in the future so I'm happy to see more models come along. Especially that we have a L2 in the garage already for the LEAF.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
I wont make any absolute statements but I can say that it is very very unlikely I will get a car that is not hybrid or ele tric
Yes. Future vehicles will need a plug to get into our garage. Small BEV could be i3, Fit, Spark, LEAF, Focus, or 500 EV. Crossover EREV could be C-Max Energi, MPV5, or PX-MiEV.
 
Yes, we are going to replace our SUV this year and we'd really like a PHEV CUV but it does not appear that there will yet be any decent choices. Even the pure hybrids are not inspiring... AWD is not a consideration for us; FWD is fine. (I'm left unimpressed by the Fords at this point...)

EricBayArea said:
But on the topic of the C-MAX, now that my wife and I own our LEAF and love driving it I really want to replace our Subaru with a Plug-In hybrid that has AWD in the future so I'm happy to see more models come along. Especially that we have a L2 in the garage already for the LEAF.
 
TomT said:
Yes, we are going to replace our SUV this year and we'd really like a PHEV CUV but it does not appear that there will yet be any decent choices. Even the pure hybrids are not inspiring... AWD is not a consideration for us; FWD is fine. (I'm left unimpressed by the Fords at this point...)

We are going to wait for Energi / Mitsu PX-MiEV. No way we're buying a non-plugin.
 
+1 on the C-Max Energi although I saw on edmunds.com that they didn't think it would be available now until early '13; the hybrid version possibly by late '12. I did come across something on the differences between the hybrid only versus plug-in hybrid cargo capacity as we're looking at the utility aspect. Perhaps old news but you'll lose about 11 cu. ft. with the battery packs versus the non plug-in (or 43.4 with seats folded) -- this compares with 67.3 with a Prius V (not plug-in version, not available yet), 65.4 Mazda CX-5, 70 Scion xB, 70.9 Honda CR-V, new '13 Escape at 68.1 and even 53.4 with a Kia Soul; perhaps not everyone will cross-shop these but we would be downsizing from a VW Routan (at 144 total, 32.7 behind third row ... we normally travel with the third seat folded down so will be looking at what that space typically would be for comparison). For anyone who has something big like a minivan, you don't even have to think most times about something fitting, just fold down that third seat and it typically fits. Question is how many times do we need excess room ... researching that now, it also needs to have a great long distance ride (about 40% used for that) as well as great MPG on short trips otherwise we'll simply keep what we have. No question our LEAF is doing quite well as our main weekend errand runner in all but much longer runs or when more room is needed but for winter, utility and trips -- a C-Max Energi could be the ticket. Trade off on waiting is to balance how much the trade-in loses value versus getting something sooner as well as gas prices, etc. and piece of mind to unload it while it's still under warranty ... we had somewhat of the same thing with the LEAF purchase keeping our trade-in under 60K for max allowance.

http://media.ford.com/images/10031/2013_CMAX_Specs.pdf

EDIT: found the cargo dimension for the Routan with third rear seat 'out' for '12 (ours is an '09); as they only fold flat into a well and don't get removed like the older ones probably just a typo but it's 83.3 which blows away all of the above and is almost double what the Energi would hold. Of course we don't typically fill the entire space but it's convenient when you have it. It's hard to have max utility as well as max mileage otherwise someone would have figured it out a long time ago!
 
All of these are just some of the reasons why it does not look like a PHEV (or even, perhaps, a hybrid) CUV is in our future this time around... BEV only is not an option for our second vehicle.

redLEAF said:
I saw on edmunds.com that they didn't think it would be available now until early '13; the hybrid version possibly by late '12. I did come across something on the differences between the hybrid only versus plug-in hybrid cargo capacity as we're looking at the utility aspect. Perhaps old news but you'll lose about 11 cu. ft. with the battery packs versus the non plug-in (or 43.4 with seats folded)
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
the general skinny looks to be hybrids by early MY or late summer, EVs mid Winter, Ext ranges not till early 13 on the Ford Front.
Yes - if they use the same timelines as they are doing for FFE, Energi should be 6 months late.
 
Back
Top